Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Your state has negotiated a fee with the third-party compliance administrator (such as State Based Systems or SBS) that will be charged for each credit hour submitted on your behalf by a Certified Education Provider (such as CEDaddy). The fee in Illinois currently is .50 for each credit hour. In some states the fee is $1.00 per credit hour. Most providers automatically add the fee during the final purchase process as CEDaddy does. That is why your final cost for a CE purchase may be different from the price the Education Provider displays on their website.

Please bear in mind that if you made your purchase via credit card or debit card, CEDaddy has not received the full price of the purchase. Your bank and/or the processor have extracted fees prior to crediting CEDaddy's account. A full refund to you would mean that CEDaddy has an actual financial loss, including manpower to handle your request; therefore we must charge a fee if you request a refund. Here are our general refund rules:

A: Prelicense Class: Prelicense fees are for text materials and class seating. A $15 "per line" fee applies if a refund is requested prior to scheduled class date. No additional fee to change class dates with at least 48 hour prior notice. A $15 per line additional reseating fee is charged for class date change requests made after the original class date has passed. No refund is available if refund is requested after class date has passed. CEDaddy's pass rate for students who have used our courses is very high. Passing a state exam is the responsibility of the candidate. There are no course refunds if a student fails to pass the state exams. Passing an exam is the responsibility of the student.

A: Ethics Class: Ethics fees are for seating. $5 fee if refund is requested 48 or more hours prior to scheduled class. OR, if the seat is cancelled 48 or more hours prior to class, the full fee can be applied to other CE for one year from the date of cancellation. No fee to change class dates if requested 48 hours prior to class. No refund if the refund is requested after the scheduled class date.

A: General CE: A $5 per course manpower processing fee will apply in cases where a full refund is requested and no other courses are selected to replace. No fee is charged to request a change from one course to another course of the same value. If changing to a course with a higher fee, only the amount of difference + Transmission fee will be charged. If changing to a course of lesser value, you will be provided with a coupon in that amount to be used for future purchases. Coupons expire one year from the date of issue.

A: You must complete 7.5 hours of classroom attendance + 12.5 hours of other Certified (e.g. Home Study) to equal 20-total pre-licensing hours IN EACH LINE OF INSURANCE you wish to examine for.

Only this will qualify you to take the formal examination. After you subsequently pass the examination for each line of insurance you wish and pay the necessary license fee for a two year licensing period, your license will permit you to sell the lines of insurance for which you qualified by examination.

You must carry proof of successful completion of the Pre-license education requirements to the exam center or you will not be permitted to take the license exam. You can test for a maximum of 2-lines of insurance per examination.

A: You must accumulate a total of 24-certified continuing education credits (hours) each two year renewal cycle. 3-hours of Classroom Ethics are included in the 24-hour requirement. In other words, you must have at least 21-hours of Traditional CE plus 3-hours of classroom participation in Ethics.

A: Yes, in Illinois it is now a perpetual requirement that you take a class each renewal cycle in order to renew your license. It is the one requirement in which DOI regulations allow you to re-take the same course and course number cycle after cycle.

A: If you have taken a class or a course online or in book form, it may mean your credits have not been applied to your record yet. It could also mean you have not taken your Ethics Classroom Requirement for this renewal period. Traditional Con-Ed should = 21 and Ethics should = 3. If it has been several days since you completed a course but it does not appear in your record, you should immediately notify the folks you took your course with. They can fix that. If you don't get answers, call us.

A. YES. The rule exists and we recommend you do not "test" it. DOI rules state that Producers are required to have completed and submitted all Con-ed requirements at least 30-days prior to your specific renewal date.

B. Beginning August 2012 Illinois will no longer accept paper renewal applications. All license renewals must be completed electronically via the NIPR database. To do this, your renewal credits must be on file at NIPR. This could take up to 10-days from the date your credits were posted by your provider.

A. Yes. Illinois Producers should keep a record of each Continuing Education Course for 5-years. You may not repeat a course of study for credit until 2-years have elapsed from the last time you completed that specific course.

A: NIPR (National Insurance Producer Registry) sweeps the SBS database for completions each 4-7 days. Holidays and weekends can extend the period. There is no "sweep schedule" so it could be anytime in that period. You cannot renew online with NIPR until their records show you as "Compliant" for renewal. This is a really good reason why you should complete your education requirements EARLY each period.

A. Illinois allows you to "Bank" or carry over a maximum of 12-hours (if that many remain after 24 are removed for your renewal). Any carry-over credits in excess of 12 will be eliminated (as if you never took them). Regardless of how many hours may appear in the SBS database, the actual maximum that will be "banked" is 12-hours.

A. You have up to one year to reinstate. Once your renewal date has passed, you can re-instate online using the "new producer" option. Follow instruction contained in this link; then you must pay the $180 Renewal fee + an additional $180 Penalty (totaling $360.00).

You must have all 24-continuing education credits including in-class Ethics Classroom certification. Once you are compliant, it can take up to 10 days or more to reinstate the license online. Go to insurance.illinois.gov and follow the producer information link to read the latest bulletin.

A. No. You may take more than one Ethics Class, but only one will apply as "Ethics Compliance". Any others you take will be added to your record as "Traditional" Continuing Education. A 3-hourClassroom Ethics course must be completed during EACH renewal cycle and cannot be carried over for compliance.

A. If you sell, or plan to sell, Annuities of any kind you must take a compliant 4-hour Annuity Suitability course before June 30, 2012. If you have not taken the course, then beginning on July 1, 2012 you are not authorized to sell annuity products in Illinois. Each insurer is also required by this same rule to conduct a similar course with respect to its own products. You do both.

The Annuity Certification course does not affect your ability to renew your license like the Ethics Requirement. It is required only for Resident Producers who plan to market Annuity products. If you hold Non-resident licenses in other states, they will require that you have satisfied the Illinois (home state) requirement in order to market annuities to their residents in their state. Illinois recognizes compliance met in your home state.

A. No. If you have satisfied all the education requirements of your Home State, you do not need to satisfy any Illinois requirement except pay to renew each time. Illinois checks the NAIC Producer Database to determine if you have met compliance in your home state. This is known as Reciprocity and virtually all states observe the same courtesy.

A. YES. Keep in mind that by August 2012 Illinois will not accept paper renewals and therefore you will be required to renew online. You can print a record of the transaction immediately, your record will reflect your renewal, and you can expect a renewed license copy within a week or two.

A. First you must take a specific certified 8-hour course titled Partnership Long Term Care designated as course number 25008. It will be your responsibility to keep a record of Compliance with this requirement forever (you will receive a proof of completion). You should only have to take this first requirement once. Insurers will require a copy of your proof of completion since Illinois does not keep records for this purpose.

A 4-hour Certified Long Term Care Continuing Education course is required each two year renewal period. Make sure it is Certified to Satisfy the LTC requirement. If you fail to take the 4-hour LTC Con-Ed course, you will be given one year to satisfy the requirement. Failure to meet the 4 hour CE requirement means you will have to re-take the 8 hour requirement again. It is your responsibility to keep the records of course completions. Insurers are responsible to maintain proof of completions and will ask for your Certificate of Course Completion.